The Eastern Mennonite University women's basketball team got a strong second half from senior guard Tara Jones (Richmond, Va./Meadowbrook) as the Lady Royals rebounded to claim a 76-63 win over Randolph College Wednesday night in Harrisonburg, Va.

EMU is now 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference while Randolph falls to 1-6 on the year and 0-4 in the conference.

"We did not rebound the ball well at all in the first half, but we didn't have that many chances either with their team shooting 56 percent from the floor," commented EMU head coach Kevin Griffin. "They just shot the heck out of the ball. We played good defense in both halves but I give them a lot of credit."

Randolph came out of the gate pushing the Lady Royals on defense and used a fast pace offense to gain an 11-point lead with 8:33 remaining. Lindsay Cross paced the WildCats with 12 points in the first half while Katie Rechnitzer had another eight points and four rebounds. Randolph shot 4-of-5 from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes and was 14-of-25 (56%) from the floor.

EMU clawed back into the game late in the first and even went up by one-point over the WildCats thanks to a bucket by senior center Jolene Kratz (Telford, Pa./Christopher Dock). Kratz finished the game with 10 points, three boards, and three blocked shots.

Randolph opened the second half with another basket by Rechnitzer and moved their lead up to six points (17:32 on clock). The Lady Royals then seemed to flip a switch as EMU began to chip away at the WildCat lead and eventually took control of the game on a jumper by freshman Brittany Snyder (Raphine, Va./Riverheads).

Snyder had eight points off the bench for EMU while senior Dana Powell (Roanoke, Va./Northside) added another six points and two assists.

EMU poured on the offense during the remainder of the second half as Jones scored 10 of her 19 points with juniors Kathleen Kitchen (Gainesville, Va./Brentsville District) and Carolyn Riley (Warrenton, Va./Liberty-Bealeton) each adding another six points in the half.

"Tara played extremely well and we got great production from our bench. Dana, Brittany, and Addie Bashorun (Manassas, Va./Brentsville District). We'll be in good shape if we continue to get that kind of contribution from them."

Riley had 14 points, eight rebounds, and six assists with sophomore guard Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Western) chipping in another nine points, five rebounds, and four assists.

"The thing that impressed me the most was our assists," added Griffin. "To have 21 assists in this game is impressive and something positive we can take away from this win."

EMU will take Thursday off before the Lady Royals host the Fighting Squirrels of Mary Baldwin on Friday, December 7, at 7 p.m.